


The bumpy road to love

by pickyourselfupfred



Series: Fred and Ginger forever [19]
Category: Astaire/Rogers RPF, Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers Movies
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 18:56:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3499286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickyourselfupfred/pseuds/pickyourselfupfred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rather a bitter sweet ending to the filming of Shall We Dance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The bumpy road to love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Samantha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samantha/gifts), [OldMoviesAreIt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldMoviesAreIt/gifts).



Fred and Ginger clung tightly to each other, a fine film of sweat joining their bodies after some intense lovemaking. This had resulted from a gift that they had received earlier that evening, something that had sparked this frenzy of intimacy. It had been as if the floodgates had opened and every repressed emotion and happy remembrance burst into this joyous union and yet it had all begun so simply.

Ira Gershwin had called in at Ginger’s home that very evening as the last few weeks of shooting rolled around.  
‘You know that song, the one you’re going to sing to Ginger on the ferry?’  
‘Yeah’, replied Fred with a chuckle, ‘the one with no lyrics!’  
‘Well they’re written now and the song’s a present for you both from George and myself’.  
‘If the lyrics are as good as the tune that’ll be some present’, Ginger smiled.  
Ira handed over an envelope.  
‘There it is and don’t open it now Fred, I suggest you play and sing it for Ginger after I’ve gone’.

They moved to the den where Fred sat down at the piano whilst she stood alongside.  
‘This is kinda scary’, he said as he opened the envelope. He looked through the song sheet, smiled and began to read from the note at the top.  
‘Fred these lyrics are yours for Ginger. We think they’ll have some resonance for you both. You may want to take them a section at a time’.  
‘Intriguing’, she said.  
‘You’re going to like this a lot’.  
‘Go on then’.  
‘Here’s the verse’.  
He sang – ‘Our romance won’t end on a sorrowful note,  
Though by tomorrow you’re gone;  
The song is ended, but as the songwriter wrote,  
“The melody lingers on”.  
They may take you from me,  
I’ll miss your fond caress,  
But though they take you from me,  
I’ll still possess’.  
Ginger stopped him.  
‘Fred, we told them about Berman’s threats to break us up. That’s what it’s really all about’.  
‘I agree but this next is well….listen’.  
‘The way you wear your hat,  
The way you slip your tea,  
The memory of all that –  
No, no, they can’t take that away from me’.

He ceased playing and they looked at each other. Ginger loved to wear hats, had quite a collection and always wore them off to one side. Fred always teased her about it. She also never used a cup handle, always cradling the cup between both hands.  
‘Guess I do have things I’ll always remember about you’, he said taking her hand.  
‘What’s next’, she asked.  
He continued playing.  
‘The way your smile just beams’.  
That was evident in her face now.  
‘The way you sing off key’.  
He grinned. She wasn’t a trained singer and did drift off occasionally. It was a bit of a running gag between them.  
‘The way you haunt my dreams –  
No, no, they can’t take that away from me’.  
She leaned over and kissed the back of his neck as he sang the middle section. Already she was tearing up, her eyes moist and glistening.  
‘We may never, never meet again  
On the bumpy road to love  
Still I’ll always, always keep  
The memory of – ‘

She sat down beside him for the final part.  
‘The way you hold you knife,  
The way we danced till three’.  
He took her in his arms.  
‘Gin, those nights at the Casino, losing all track of time. The next line says the way you’ve changed my life. God how true is that?’  
He had to kiss her as intensely as he could.  
‘That’s it, that’s us; it’s all our memories and love in one song. It really is me to you Ginge’.  
‘Oh Freddie, those boys know us too well. You never knew how much I used to talk to them about you ‘.  
‘Me too, baby’.  
‘They used to tell me to shut up, I went on so much about you’.  
‘I know I’ll never love anyone as much as I love you’.

At that moment words were no longer necessary for the two of them, only an intense reaffirmation of their devotion to one another.

Shooting the song also proved particularly poignant for them as it was staged on a ferry out of New York. In their time in there they had used the ferry many times and they had fond memories of kissing in the dark as the boat sailed past the lights of the city. They both so much wanted to dance to the song but Sandrich was adamant. It wasn’t scripted and however much Fred argued it would improve the sequence it was no go.

The set was atmospheric and they found themselves to be quite emotional. Fred had arranged for the flower seller to carry gardenias in her basket. He always bought gardenias for her when they went out on the town and she silently acknowledged her appreciation. They blocked the song for camera channelling their individual thoughts into the technicalities of film making, however, when they came to the actual shoot and Ginger knew he was singing just for her she couldn’t stop her eyes welling up with tears. Fred was moved by this and longed to hold and comfort her but she quickly wiped her eyes and flashed a smile at him.

Somehow the rest of the filming flew by and in the last few days Fred often saw traces of sadness on Ginger’s face although she tried not to show it. He knew why. Both of them had come to realise forces at RKO were working against them. 

On the day of the wrap party they soon snuck away for they only ever wanted each other.  
‘Gin, somehow I don’t think the next movie will be with you and that’s none of my doing’.  
‘I know that Fred – the writing’s been on the wall for a while’.  
‘I will make other movies with you; we’ll find a way round this. I’ll never give you up and I’ll be with you whenever I’m able to’.  
‘I know. We’ll still see each other whatever’.  
‘As often as I can’.  
‘Then that will do Fred. I know I can’t ask for more’.

They made love that night as if it was their last day on earth and with a kind of desperation at their plight, each reassuring one another of their love. Only in the early hours, when they held each other in the afterglow of their intimacy, did they find the peace and inner strength that would sustain them through the next few challenging months and Fred could whisper to her, ‘They can’t take you away from me’.


End file.
